'Steve McQueen- The Last Mile' By Barbara McQueen with Marshall
Terrill
Dearfield, Illinois: Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2008 edition. ISBN 9
781854 432278 237pp. (hardback)
£29.00
What makes a cult actor? One possible answer is a two-worded one:
‘Steve McQueen’. Perhaps the ultimate method is to make a few iconic
films, establish a definitive person and to die young…a feat that Steve
McQueen sadly managed to achieve. From the modern perspective, cult
actors’ images are everywhere, drawing a distinction between an actor
such as McQueen and his compatriot Paul Newman- a great performer but
with a longevity that transforms his cult status into that of
fully-matured Hollywood great. One problem with a cult actor is
preserving their status and not letting the stardom be tarnished by a
host of less than credible biographies plumbing the depths from a
variety of obscure angles. In terms of Steve McQueen, one angle that
had not previously been thoroughly explored is his later years, when,
according to the flyleaf of his wife, Barbara,’s book, the actor
‘wanted to scale back his visibility’. Now, almost thirty years after
his death, in an ironic twist, those final years are more visible than
ever.
Steve McQueen- The Last Mile is an intriguing yet vast book, its
appearance suggesting the panorama of Widescreen that many of its
subject’s films were shot in. Its 237 pages lay bare the three and a
half year relationship between McQueen and Barbara, whose 400
photographs of the actor illuminate the pages, bringing the legend
alive- the personal legend, as opposed to the star of numerous
films in the period 1953-80. Perhaps appropriately, the first part of
her book focuses on Barbara’s own life, thereby paving the way for her
meeting with McQueen on Independence Day 1977 and the burgeoning of
their relationship soon after. What is most refreshing about this whole
section is its absence of pretension, the anecdotes being warm, witty
and fascinating in their ordinariness, told with an air of loving
appreciation. The approach is not focused on developing a clear
chronology but instead about developing a thematic portrait of McQueen-
far more useful in its avoidance of the ground already covered in other
biographies.
Perhaps it is this thematic coverage that, above all, that makes Steve
McQueen- The Last Mile such an entrancing read, for the book’s
sheer size might be daunting were it not for its seven true chapters
being further sub-divided into bite-sized chunks that deal with
particular instances or occurrences. Though the text (and its cavalcade
of charming stories) draws the reader in, the other major selling-point
for the book is its vast array of Barbara’s own photographs of her
former husband, some posed, some candid. These capture the true essence
of the man away from the Hollywood glamour machine- McQueen seems
relaxed and happy; the photographs having in retrospect an aura of
sadness about them for this very reason. One of Barbara’s own
favourites appears on page 103, and it shows a man at ease with himself
and with his career. Barbara’s pictures document this transformation-
focusing in detail on the final 18 months of McQueen’s life and his
penultimate film Tom Horn.
Although it occurs almost half way through her book, Barbara McQueen’s
section on the preparations for Tom Horn is a particularly fine
one, and centres around the magnificent photograph that completely
fills page 122. This paves the way for Barbara’s almost tangible and
poetic account of the intricacies of how she and Steve balanced their
relationship whilst still building up to filming. The photograph of
McQueen with the dog Junior on page 131 is another fine one- it
captures the actor looking less ‘movie-starry’ than ever, but it is
none the worse for that. A hundred pages later, and McQueen’s illness
is evident- he looks significantly older, even though the photographs
were taken only a year or so apart. Ultimately, this is the over-riding
sadness in Steve McQueen- The Last Mile, as its subject is
captured in middle age but simultaneously at the end of his life, a
facet not possible in a book about James Dean, for example. There is
also added poignancy in McQueen’s happiness in his final years, the way
he “found” himself and the way this laid-back lifestyle was abruptly
cut short.
In Steve McQueen- The Last Mile, Barbara McQueen has provided a
fitting eulogy for her late husband, ‘a true artist whose work has
stood the test of time and will continue to do so’ (p.111). Books like
this are important, not just to act as a catharsis for their author but
to both preserve the legacy of their subject and enhance it. This
particular volume succeeds by simply being itself- it is an intimate
memoir yet a far-reaching panorama, and, above all, a specialist book
with widespread appeal.
'Steve McQueen- The Last Mile' is published by
Dalton Watson Fine Books.
Dalton Watson Fine Books
website
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